How BALLE, AMIBA, National Mainstreets, Local Firsters or Anyone Else Can Use Main and Me To Start Shifting Shopping Today

Main and Me is the free-to-use website that let’s you put your town online in a day, so you can begin to shift a significant portion of online shopping back to local independent business. It’s a year-round marketplace that excludes national chains while allowing online shoppers to discover what’s for sale in the brick and … Continue reading »

A New Way For NELBF Members to Support Your “Shift Your Shopping” Campaigns

A New Way For NELBF Members to Support Your “Shift Your Shopping” Campaigns

Welcome, New England Local Business Forum members! This is a post about how Main and Me supports the New England Local Business Forum-branded ”Shift Your Shopping” campaigns which many of you have implemented (with a nod of thanks to reader Imuromo for helping to make the title of this post more coherent!) Until recently, the problem … Continue reading »

How Downtown Shopping Districts Can Use Main and Me To Fight The Internet And Win

(The following is a true re-enactment of one of several events that led to the creation of Main and Me. Enjoy.) Once upon a time there was a town, and in that town there were many independent shopkeepers, and in a little office in that town there was a Downtown Director who’s job it was … Continue reading »

Tupelo, MS Plans For Holiday Shopping Season With $1,000 Main and Me Downtown Shopping Spree Contest

Tupelo, MS Plans For Holiday Shopping Season With $1,000 Main and Me Downtown Shopping Spree Contest

Main Street manager Debbie Brangenberg and her lieutenant Jessica Reed of Downtown Tupelo Main Street Association have thought up a brilliant way to raise awareness–in anticipation of the 2012 holiday shopping season–of the wonderful goods and services for sale in Tupelo’s downtown historic shopping district. Can Main and Me do one with you?

When Cashmobs Double As Photomobs They Benefit All Your Local Businesses Not Just One

Your cashmob is a precious resource. Why not leverage it to bring lasting benefit to ALL the stores in your town? It’s simple, fun and it feels good to do it. Just ask your volunteers to bring their smartphones and digital cameras along to snap, caption and check in photos of storefronts and favorite merchandise … Continue reading »

Where National Mainstreet.Orgs Go To Offer Online Windowshopping And Wish-listing Of Their Downtown Historic Shopping Districts

Where National Mainstreet.Orgs Go To Offer Online Windowshopping And Wish-listing Of Their Downtown Historic Shopping Districts

Main and Me is the free, user-generated social shopping network where National Mainstreet.Orgs and downtown merchant associations come to “put their downtowns online.” That way they can offer online windowshopping and wish-listing of their downtown historic shopping district, and begin to turn the tide in the competition with Amazon and Big Internet Retail. Won’t you … Continue reading »

Communities Communities 2 Communities 3

A Social Network 100% Dedicated to Promoting Local Independent Business

The elves are busy. The number of communities adding photo galleries of their local businesses to Main and Me before the holiday shopping season is growing. Who knew how many cool barbershops and tattoo parlors and yoga studios and boutiques-for-everything and (dare I say it, tasteful adult toys?) there were in America?? (Check for your … Continue reading »